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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, Clean Line Energy Partners, LLC, plans on
3constructing the Grain Belt Express Line, a 750-mile overhead
4transmission line that would carry electricity produced by
5Kansas wind farms across portions of Kansas, Iowa, Missouri,
6and Illinois; and
 
7    WHEREAS, The central Illinois portion of the transmission
8line would span the entire width of the State, including
9Macoupin, Montgomery and Christian Counties in the 95th
10Legislative District; and
 
11    WHEREAS, The majority of the energy transported along the
12transmission line will benefit consumers on the East Coast and
13will not be used by rate payers in Illinois; and
 
14    WHEREAS, The transmission line will likely have a
15detrimental impact on landowners in these areas, as the
16transmission towers will decrease the value of their land and
17will make it more difficult for them to farm their property;
18and
 
19    WHEREAS, Clean Line Energy Partners, LLC has, in the past,
20submitted to the United States Department of Energy an
21application for "Federal Siting Authority", which would grant

 

 

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1the company the powers of eminent domain; and
 
2    WHEREAS, The powers of eminent domain would allow a private
3company to seize land from private landowners that refuse to
4grant easements to their property that would allow construction
5of the transmission line; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Anything that encroaches upon the property rights
7of individual land owners in Illinois needs to be carefully
8considered before being enacted; and
 
9    WHEREAS, On April 10, 2015, Clean Line Energy Partners, LLC
10submitted an application to the Illinois Commerce Commission
11for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity;
12therefore, be it
 
13    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
14NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
15urge the Illinois Commerce Commission to carefully consider the
16application submitted by Clean Line Energy Partners, LLC for
17its Grain Belt Express Line, and to grant the application only
18if the company identifies clear and substantial benefits to the
19State of Illinois that definitively outweigh any deprivation of
20property rights or land value of the citizens of Illinois; and
21be it further
 

 

 

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1    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
2delivered to the Illinois Commerce Commission.